Often, when semiconductor companies talk about chip manufacturing, they are referring to the specific process of applying masks and etching silicon wafers that takes place in advanced foundries. While these are critical steps in chip production, they don't result in a functional processor in and of themselves. Fully processed wafers are often transferred from the foundry manufacturer to an OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) firm. There, newly built processors are mounted to underlying substrates, connected to other processors, and checked for errors.

ASE Technology Holdings is the largest OSAT in the world, with facilities in Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. It assembles and tests electronics for semiconductor manufacturers across the planet and has collaborated with AMD to develop 2.5D interposers and other advanced packaging since 2007. But it's one thing to build parts for a customer and something altogether different to adopt that customer's hardware into your own lines of business. ASE's collective requirements run the gamut from lightweight mobile systems to data center systems with dozens to hundreds of available CPU cores.

Mid-way through last month, Tencent's President—Martin Lau—confirmed that this company had stockpiled a huge quantity of NVIDIA H20 AI GPUs, prior to new trade restrictions coming into effect. According to earlier reports, China's largest tech firms have collectively spent $16 billion on hardware acquisitions in Q1'25. Team Green engineers are likely engaged in the creation of "nerfed" enterprise-grade chip designs—potentially ready for deployment later on in 2025. Huawei leadership is likely keen to take advantage of this situation, although it will be difficult to compete with the sheer volume of accumulated H20 units. The Shenzhen, Guangdong-based giant's Ascend AI accelerator family is considered to be a valid alternative to equivalent "sanction-conformant" NVIDIA products.

The controversial 910C model and a successor seem to be worthy candidates; as demonstrated by preliminary performance data, but fresh industry murmurs suggest teething problems. The Information has picked up inside track chatter from unnamed moles at ByteDance and Alibaba. During test runs, staffers noted the overheating of Huawei Ascend 910C trial samples. Additionally, they highlighted limitations within the Huawei Compute Architecture for Neural Networks (CANN) software platform. NVIDIA's extremely mature CUDA ecosystem holds a significant advantage here. Several of China's prime AI players—including DeepSeek—are reportedly pursuing in-house AI chip development projects; therefore positioning themselves as competing with Huawei, in a future scenario.

Just over a week ago, the Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics card became official; introduced as the fastest gaming GPU option for "under $350." It represents the second wave of AMD's RDNA 4 GPU generation, but definitive verdicts are not expected until a lifting of review embargoes—likely happening the day before retail release: June 4. Evaluation samples are very likely in the possession of media outlets and influencers; as evidenced by pre-launch benchmark results appearing within the Geekbench Browser database. A nondescript Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB model was put through OpenCL and Vulkan wringers, via "Geekbench 6.2.2 for Windows AVX2." Overall tallies are 109315 and 124251, respectively. The test rig consisted of Team Red's Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, a Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER motherboard, and 32 GB of DDR5-8000 RAM.

Geekbench results are not the best indicators of gaming performance on modern PC platforms, but semi-useful data can be compared to figures generated by predecessors and current-gen siblings. Quick analysis points to the benchmarked Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB sample pulling ahead of its RDNA 3-based elder—the Radeon RX 7600 XT—by 25 to 31%. Stepping up against the Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB model, the plucky new candidate trails by 14% in OpenCL stakes and 12% in Vulkan. Naturally, a performance gulf exists between the Radeon RX 9070 16 GB (non-XT) card and its forthcoming smaller sibling—almost a +23% difference in OpenCL, and roughly +32% in Vulkan. Crucially, other Geekbench Browser entries suggest that NVIDIA's competing GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16/8 GB and RTX 5060 8 GB designs hold slight advantages in terms of OpenCL numbers. AMD's Navi 44 XT GPU-powered card nudges just beyond the RTX 5060's overall Vulkan result. A clearer picture of Radeon RX 9060 XT's standing will be painted next week; stay tuned for TechPowerUp's inevitable in-depth analyses of board partner specimens.

Today, Grimlore Games and THQ Nordic shared another update on the development of Titan Quest II, revealing both community insights from the recent playtest and a revised Early Access timeline.

Originally slated for a Winter 2024/2025 release, Titan Quest II will now launch in Early Access in Summer 2025. The decision comes in response to a crowded ARPG release window and a desire to give the game the spotlight it deserves.

AMD and a select bunch of its board partners are set to launch Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB graphics card models tomorrow; starting as exclusives for China's PC gaming hardware market. Just before an unleashing of retail stock, local media outlets have published reviews—mostly covering brand-new ASUS, Sapphire, and XFX products. The RDNA 4 generation's first "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) is positioned as a slightly cheaper alternative to Team Red's Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) 16 GB model; 4199 RMB versus 4499 RMB (respectively, including VAT). In general, Chinese evaluators seem to express lukewarm opinions about the Radeon RX 9070 GRE's value-to-performance ratio. After all, this is a cut-down design—a "reduced" Navi 48 chip makes do with 3072 Stream Processors. The card's 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM configuration is paired up with a 192-bit memory interface.

Carbon Based Technology's video review presented benchmark results that placed AMD's new contender on par with a previous-gen card: Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16 GB. Considering that this RDNA 3 era Golden Rabbit Edition (GRE) model launched globally with an MSRP of $549, its Navi 48 XL GPU-based descendant's ~$580 (USD) guide price appears to be mildly nonsensical. GamerSky pitched their ASUS ATS RX 9070 GRE MEGALODON OC sample against mid-range and lower level current-gen NVIDIA gaming products: ""through testing, we can find that at 4K resolution, the GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB performs the best, 5% higher than the ASUS RX 9070 GRE Megalodon. As the resolution decreases, its lead also decreases, and at 2K resolution it is only 2% higher. At 1080p resolution, the difference is only 1%. At the same time, compared with RTX 5060 Ti 16G, ASUS RX 9070 GRE Megalodon has a greater advantage. The performance of its competitor's RTX 5060 Ti 16G is only 77% of that of RX 9070 GRE at 4K and 2K resolutions. At 1080p, its performance increased slightly to 79%." AMD and involved AIBs could be testing the waters with an initial Chinese market exclusive release, but Western news outlets reckon that a more aggressive pricing strategy is needed for a (potential) proper global rollout of Radeon RX 9070 GRE cards.

Splitgate 2's next open beta will take place stating on May 22, with the developer, 1047 Games, announcing the free-to-play multiplayer shooter's new beta test in a new YouTube trailer. The open beta is free-to-play, just like the game will be when it launches, and it's seemingly open to all, as well. The Splitgte 2 open beta will be open to gamers on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games. Splitgate 2 is planned for a full release sometime in 2025, but an exact date has not yet been confirmed.

Like the first Splitgate game, Splitgate 2 will feature the same portals-based combat, fast-paced gunplay, and high vertical mobility. However, the developers have apparently been working on some new tricks for the latest installment in the series, with the open beta boasting over 25 weapons, more than 10 game modes, and "infinite" maps. It's not clear how the new map system will work, but it's likely that some sort of tile-based procedural generation will be used to spawn a new map each time a new match starts, which is similar to how games like Warframe keep things interesting in what would otherwise be a repetitive gameplay loop. The new open beta announcement teaser trailer also seems to suggest that players will be able to create and edit their own maps, likely for custom games.

OKI Circuit Technology, the OKI Group printed circuit board (PCB) company, has successfully developed 124-layer PCB technology for wafer inspection equipment designed for next-generation high bandwidth memory, such as HBM mounted on AI semiconductors. This is a roughly 15% increase in the number of layers over conventional 108-layer designs. OTC is seeking to establish mass production technology by October 2025 at its Joetsu Plant in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, which has a proven track record and advanced development and production capabilities in the field of high multilayer, high-precision, large-format PCBs for semiconductor inspection equipment.

AI processing requires the transmission of vast data volumes between graphics processing unit (GPU) semiconductors and memory. As semiconductor performance increases, the memory installed is also required to have high-speed, high-frequency, and high-density data transfer capabilities. HBM features a stacked DRAM structure, requiring technology capable of fabricating wafers even more thinly and precisely. This configuration also requires that the PCBs used in inspection equipment meet even higher levels of performance and quality.

As revealed during a recent Q1 earnings call, Intel leadership mentioned that "external clients are getting their ASICs designs tested." The company's foundry business is working towards the finalization of its much discussed 18A node process, with alleged trial samples receiving an "impressive performance rating." According to Ctee Taiwan, Team Blue's foundry service has submitted test subjects to the likes of NVIDIA, Broadcom and Faraday Technology. The latter organization has (reportedly) disclosed that the 18A platform tape-out was completed last October—since then, received samples have been "successfully connected." Industry moles believe that NVIDIA and Broadcom are in the middle of conducting manufacturing tests. Additional whispers suggest the delivery of 18A prototypes chez IBM and several other unnamed partner companies. Insiders have indicated impressive/good "verification results." Contrary to reports from other sources, Ctee has picked up on insider chatter about Intel's next-gen Nova Lake compute tile design being "not entirely outsourced." Further conjecture points to Team Blue becoming increasingly confident in its own manufacturing techniques.

NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB graphics card design received little fanfare when review embargoes lifted mid-way through the working week. Reportedly by official instruction, involved board partners sent out 16 GB samples to evaluators. Multiple Western outlets are currently attempting to source GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB cards—on their own dime—including TechPowerUp. As mentioned in his conclusive rundown of PALIT's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Infinity 3 16 GB model, W1zzard commented on this situation: "personally, I'm very interested in my results for the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, which I'm trying to buy now." The ever reliable harukaze5719 has already stumbled upon one such review. Yesterday, Carbon-based Technology Research Institute (CBTRI) uploaded their findings onto the Chinese bilibili video platform.

Two ASUS options were compared to each other: an 8 GB Hatsune Miku Special Edition card, and a better known property: PRIME RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB. In most situations the two variants perform similarly. A clear difference was demonstrated when CBTRI's lab test moved into a DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation (MFG) phase. Both harukaze5719 and Tom's Hardware noted a significant gulf—the latter's report observed: "in Cyberpunk 2077, for example, the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB inexplicably performed worse than the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB at native 1440p resolution. While enabling MFG helped improve performance, pushing it to 4x delivered underwhelming results, with the 16 GB version providing 22% higher performance than the 8 GB card." Rumors have swirled about the late arrival of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB cards at retail; potentially a week after the launch of 16 GB siblings. As evidenced by early results, potential buyers should consider paying a little extra ($50) for a larger pool of VRAM. Team Green's introductory material outlined starter price tags of $429 (16 GB) and $379 (8 GB).

Chroma, Ubisoft's colorblind simulation tool, is now available for public use after several years of internal use and development. With an estimated 300 million people around the world affected by colorblindness, Chroma allows developers to accurately replicate their experience and create accessible content to meet their needs. The open-source tool works by applying a filter over the game screen without hindering performance."Over the past few years, Chroma has proven to be a highly efficient tool for us at Ubisoft," says David Tisserand, Director of Accessibility. "It has allowed us to assess the accessibility of our games for colorblind players much faster and more comprehensively than ever before. Because we believe accessibility is a journey, not a race, we're thrilled to share Chroma with the entire industry. We invite everyone to benefit from it, provide feedback, and contribute to its future development."

Development on Chroma started in 2021 as Ubisoft's Quality Control team based in India worked to create a tool that would provide feedback in real time and allow developers to control the game while simulating color blindness. Today, Chroma uses the Color Oracle algorithm and can be used on dual or single screens; furthermore, it works with hotkeys and has a customizable overlay.

According to the latest South Korean semiconductor industry whispers, Samsung's 2 nm GAA node process (aka SF2) development team has hit another pleasing experimental production milestone. An Asia Economy SK news article has sourced insights from inside track players—one unnamed mole posited that: "the 2 nm yield currently under development at Samsung Foundry is much better than previously known...and more positive than the (reportedly abandoned) 3 nm process." A combination of relatively new leadership and a rumored welcoming of first wave High-NA EUV equipment has likely bolstered next-gen efforts, after late 2024's alleged failure of 3 nm prototypes. Leaks from earlier in 2025 indicated SF2 test yields wavering around 20-30%; far from ideal—back then, insider reports suggested that TSMC was well on the way to achieving 60% rates with a competing 2 nm product line. Asia Economy has picked up on mutterings about Samsung's current progress—latest outputs: "have exceeded 40% in the wafer testing stage at a post-processing company."

Industry watchdogs reckon that the South Korean's foundry business is making good progress; perhaps on track to commence speculated mass production by the third quarter of this year—just in time to get finalized flagship "Exynos 2600" mobile chips in the manufacturing pipeline. The Taiwanese rumor mill indicated a major milestone "completion" of TSMC's 2 nm trial phase at some point last month—insiders mentioned excellent yield rates: in the region of 70-80%. Cross-facility mass production could start later this year, but experts propose that the market leader will be implementing price hikes. These "elevated charges" could send loyal TSMC customers in the direction of an alternate source of 2 nm wafers: Samsung. Fresh semicon biz gossip has the likes of Apple, AMD and NVIDIA in the picture.

NVIDIA and its laptop manufacturing partners managed to squeeze out higher end models at the start of the week (March 31); qualifying just in time as a Q1 2025 launch. As predicted by PC gaming hardware watchdogs, conditions on day one—for the general public—were far from perfect. Media and influencer outlets received pre-launch evaluation units—Monday's embargo lift did not open up floodgates to a massive number of published/uploaded reviews. Independent benchmarking of Team Green's flagship—GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile—produced somewhat underwhelming results. To summarize, several outlets—including Notebookcheck—observed NVIDIA's topmost laptop-oriented GPU trailing way behind its desktop equivalent in lab tests. Notebookcheck commented on these findings: "laptop gamers will want to keep their expectations in check as the mobile GeForce RTX 5090 can be 50 percent slower than the desktop counterpart as shown by our benchmarks. The enormous gap between the mobile RTX 5090 and desktop RTX 5090 and the somewhat disappointing leap over the outgoing mobile RTX 4080 can be mostly attributed to TGP."

The German online publication was more impressed with NVIDIA's sub-flagship model—two Ryzen 9 9955HX-powered Schenker XMG Neo 16 test units—sporting almost identical specifications—were pitched against each other, a resultant mini-review of benched figures was made available earlier today. Notebookcheck's Allen Ngo provided some context: "3DMark benchmarks...show that the (Schenker Neo's) GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile unit is roughly 10 to 15 percent slower than its pricier sibling. This deficit translates fairly well when running actual games like Baldur's Gate 3, Final Fantasy XV, Alan Wake 2, or Assassin's Creed Shadows. As usual, the deficit is widest when running at 4K resolutions on demanding games and smallest when running at lower resolutions where graphics become less GPU bound. A notable observation is that the performance gap between the mobile RTX 5080 and mobile RTX 5090 would remain the same, whether or not DLSS is enabled. When running Assassin's Creed Shadows with DLSS on, for example, the mobile RTX 5090 would maintain its 15 percent lead over the mobile RTX 5080. The relatively small performance drop between the two enthusiast GPUs means it may be worth configuring laptops with the RTX 5080 instead of the RTX 5090 to save on hundreds of dollars or for better performance-per-dollar." As demonstrated by Bestware.com's system configurator, the XMG NEO 16 (A25) SKU with a GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile GPU demands a €855 (~$928 USD) upcharge over an RTX 5080-based build.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled the Razer Skibidi headset, the world's first AI-powered, intelligent "Brainrot" translator. Powered by Razer AI Gamer Copilot, the Razer Skibidi serves as a real-time linguistic assistant that translates "brainrot" - what the internet has dubbed Gen Alpha's slang of seemingly unintelligible words - into "normal speak" and vice versa to facilitate intergenerational conversations.

In an era where internet slang evolves faster than the latest fad, communicating across generations has reached a whole new realm of complexity. Designed to help frustrated parents and older Gen Z siblings decode the often-perplexing lexicons of internet culture from Gen Alpha, the Razer Skibidi is coded with 1,337 unique Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms, tapping on the full capabilities of our patented AI to decipher the impossible - all in real time, at the touch of a button.

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600 launched recently as a slightly more affordable variant of the popular Ryzen 5 9600X. Despite launching over a month ago, the 9600 still appears rather difficult to track down in retail stores. However, a recent PassMark benchmark has provided some insights as to the performance of the non-X variant of AMD's six-core Zen 5 budget CPU. Unsurprisingly, the Ryzen 5 9600X and the Ryzen 5 9600 are neck-and-neck, with the 9600X scraping past its non-X counterpart by a mere 2.2% in the CPU benchmark.

According to the PassMark result, the Ryzen 5 9600 scored 29,369, compared to the Ryzen 5 9600X's 30,016, while single-core scores were 4581 for the 9600X and 4433 points for the 9600, representing a 3.2% disparity between the two CPUs. The result is not surprising, since the only real difference between the 9600 and the 9600X is 200 MHz boost clock. All other specifications, including TDP, core count, cache amount and base clock speed, are identical. Both CPUs are also unlocked for overclocking, and both feature AMD Precision Boost 2. While the Ryzen 5 9600 isn't available just yet, it will seemingly be a good option for those who want to stretch their budget to the absolute maximum, since recent reports indicate that it will be around $20 cheaper than the Ryzen 5 9600X, coming in at around the $250-260 mark.

Around late January, out-of-date AMD marketing material teased the existence of a Radeon RX 9070 series reference card design. Almost a month later, PC hardware news outlets picked up on an official signal about Team Red's launch lineup consisting entirely of board partner-produced options. First-party enthusiasts were disappointed by the apparent total lack of "Made by AMD" (MBA) solutions, but some unusual specimens appeared online roughly two weeks post-RDNA 4's launch. Reports pointed to triple-fan Radeon RX 9070 XT and dual-fan RX 9070 MBA cards being exchanged for cash via Chinese black market channels. Photographed examples seemed to sport a somewhat muted black shroud design—not quite as exciting when compared to AMD's marketed/rendered brushed metal effect promo units.

Members of the Chiphell forum have spent months leaking many aspects of Team Red's foray into a new generation of graphics architecture—going back to the days of old nomenclature: Radeon RX 8800 XT. Yesterday, one participant revealed their fresh purchase of a Radeon RX 9070 non-XT MBA card. They sold their old GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB graphics card, in favor of Navi 48 GPU-based OEM hardware. The post focused mainly on photo uploads and screenshots, but a brief description stated: "purchased at original price (TPU note: presumably 4499 RMB), room temperature is 16 degrees Celsius. Dual fans on the front. The back panel has an AMD logo, but it's a sticker." As theorized by VideoCardz, AMD likely produced a limited number of pre-release "public" MBA cards. The publication reckons that partner companies have received a smattering of samples for evaluation or software development purposes. The presence of an old school Radeon logo (pre-RDNA era) is a head scratcher, given the unit's supposed first-party origin.

Last Friday, AMD confirmed finalized price points for its upcoming Ryzen 9 9950X3D ($699) and 9900X3D ($599) gaming processors—both launching on March 12. Media outlets are very likely finalizing their evaluations of review silicon; official embargoes are due for lifting tomorrow (March 11). By Team Red decree, a drip feed of pre-launch information was restricted to teasers, a loose March launch window, and an unveiling of basic specifications (at CES 2025). A trickle of mid-January to early March leaks have painted an incomplete picture of performance expectations for the 3D V-Cache-equipped 16 and 12-core parts. A fresh NDA-busting disclosure has arrived online, courtesy of an alleged Ryzen 9 9950X3D sample's set of benchmark scores.

A pre-release candidate posted single and multi-thread ratings of 4739 and 69,701 (respectively), upon completion of PassMark tests. Based on this information, a comparison chart was assembled—pitching the Ryzen 9 9950X3D against its direct predecessor (7950X3D), a Zen 5 relative (9950X), and competition from Intel (Core Ultra 9 285K). AMD's brand-new 16-core flagship managed to outpace the previous-gen Ryzen 9 7950X3D by ~14% in single thread stakes, and roughly 11% in multithreaded scenarios. Test system build details and settings were not mentioned with this leak—we expect to absorb a more complete picture tomorrow, upon publication of widespread reviews. The sampled Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU surpassed its 9950X sibling by ~5% with its multi-thread result, both processors are just about equal in terms of single-core performance. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU posted the highest single-core result within the comparison—5078 points—exceeding the 9950X3D's tally by about 7%. The latter pulls ahead by ~3% in terms of recorded multi-thread performance. Keep an eye on TechPowerUp's review section; where W1zzard will be delivering his verdict(s) imminently.

Sony Interactive has unveiled its new Beta Program at PlayStation, a central system that lets gamers sign up for upcoming beta tests across various PlayStation experiences. One registration allows users to show interest in testing PS5 and PC games new PS5 features, PlayStation App updates, and improvements to the user experience on PlayStation.com. "The Beta Program at PlayStation will create an easy, centralized place for you to register your interest in a range of future PlayStation betas." said Sid Shuman, senior director at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Sony will send invites to chosen participants, who can then decide to join each specific beta. Sony made it clear in the blog post about the Beta Program that joining doesn't guarantee access to all future tests. It just means Sony will think about including you. To qualify, players need a PlayStation Network account in good standing, must live in a supported area, and meet their region's age rules. You can sign up for free, and it's becoming available worldwide at playstation.com/beta-program-at-playstation.

AMD's internal benchmarks of its upcoming RDNA 4-based RX 9070 series graphics cards have been leaked, thanks to VideoCardz. The flagship RX 9070 XT delivers up to 42% better performance than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 4K resolution across a test suite of over 30 games, with the standard RX 9070 showing a 21% improvement in the same scenario. The performance data, encompassing raster and ray-traced titles at ultra settings, positions the RX 9070 series as a direct competitor to NVIDIA's RTX 4080 and RTX 5070 Ti. Notably, AMD's testing methodology focused on native rendering and ray tracing capabilities rather than upscaling technologies like FSR. The RX 9070 XT demonstrated large gains at 4K resolution, achieving a 51% performance uplift compared to the two-generations older RX 6900 XT. Meanwhile, the base RX 9070 model showed a 38% improvement over the RX 6800 XT at 4K with maximum settings enabled.

While AMD confirms its new cards are designed to compete with NVIDIA's RTX 50 series, specific comparative benchmarks against the RTX 5070 Ti were absent from the presentation. AMD acknowledges it has yet to acquire the competitor's hardware for testing. The company is expected to provide a comprehensive performance overview, potentially including additional GPU comparisons, during its official announcement on February 28. Both RX 9070 series cards will feature 16 GB of VRAM, matching the memory configuration of the RX 7900 GRE used as a primary comparison point. By the official launch date, AMD will have time to push final driver tweaks for optimal performance. Nonetheless, more information will surface as we near the official release date.

The telecom industry's efforts to drive efficiencies with AI are beginning to show fruit. An increasing focus on deploying AI into radio access networks (RANs) was among the key findings of NVIDIA's third annual "State of AI in Telecommunications" survey, as more than a third of respondents indicated they're investing or planning to invest in AI-RAN.

The survey polled more than 450 telecommunications professionals worldwide, revealing continued momentum for AI adoption—including growth in generative AI use cases—and how the technology is helping optimize customer experiences and increase employee productivity. Of the telecommunications professionals surveyed, almost all stated that their company is actively deploying or assessing AI projects.

Today, the storied Battlefield franchise known for uncompromising all-out warfare and world-class gameplay for over two decades, announced the most ambitious community testing program in franchise history - Battlefield Labs. The work on the next Battlefield experience is entering a critical phase in development that will benefit from collaboration with the community like never before.

Sign Up for Battlefield Labs Are Now Open
The first phase of Battlefield Labs testing will go live in the coming weeks, and sign up to players is available now at battlefield.com/labs. Initial tests will include an invited group of players and servers located in Europe and North America ahead of plans to expand invitees and server locations in the future.

We're excited to announce that in today's update to 3DMark, we're adding support for DLSS 4 and DLSS Multi Frame generation to the NVIDIA DLSS feature test. The NVIDIA DLSS feature test and this update were developed in partnership with NVIDIA. The 3DMark NVIDIA DLSS feature test lets you compare performance and image quality brought by enabling DLSS processing. If you have a new GeForce RTX 50 Series GPU, you'll also be able to compare performance with and without the full capabilities of DLSS 4.

You can choose to run the NVIDIA DLSS feature test using DLSS 4, DLSS 3 or DLSS 2. DLSS 4 includes the new DLSS Multi Frame Generation feature, and you can choose between several image quality modes—Quality, Balanced, Performance, Ultra Performance and DLAA. These modes are designed for different resolutions, from Full HD up to 8K. DLSS Multi Frame Generation uses AI to boost frame rates with up to three additional frames generated per traditionally rendered frame. In the 3DMark NVIDIA DLSS feature test, you are able to choose between 2x, 3x and 4x Frame Generation settings if you have an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series GPU.

SNK CORPORATION has announced an Open Beta test for FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves. The beta for SNK's highly anticipated fighting game will be available from February 20 to February 24 (PST) on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam. Participation in the beta test does NOT require an active PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass Core/Ultimate subscription. FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves is set to release on April 24, 2025.

Rev Up for Open Beta
From February 20, 2025 (12 AM PST) through February 24, 2025 (11:59 PM PST), PC and console players can choose from eight total characters and throw down with friends in three online modes: Ranked Match, Casual Match, or Room Match. Those eager to hone their skills and learn dynamic combo routes can practice in the offline Training mode. FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves introduces a stunning, comic-inspired art style that's a visual treat for series fans, combined with fights fueled by the cutting-edge REV System to deliver dynamic matches. The open beta offers the public their first opportunity to experience the modernized action of City of the Wolves at home, featuring two distinct control schemes tailored to engage both newcomers and seasoned pros.

2XKO is an upcoming team-based fighter game from League of Legends studio, Riot Games, and it looks to be getting a 2025 release. While 2XKO had an alpha playtest since August of this year, the development team recently hinted in a post on X that something is coming in March next year—potentially an expanded beta playtest or even the full launch of the game: "brb for a bit - locking in. you'll see what we've been up to in march, but we'll drop an update in february. in the meantime, support your locals."

The alpha version of the game Riot playtested in August was seemingly quite feature-complete, although a slew of changes is coming to the game based on that feedback, suggesting that what's to come in early 2025 is likely a wider playtest, rather than a full launch. Riot has previously confirmed that 2XKO will be launching sometime in 2025, but there is likely more testing necessary before the game is ready for prime time. That said, Riot Games is no stranger to short beta periods—League of Legends launched into open beta a mere week before its full launch. If 2XKO's previous development updates and the last playtest are anything to go by, the February update Riot teased will probably preview what to expect in the next playtest, with March either being the playtest itself or a showcase of an upcoming alpha or beta test.

Today we're excited to launch the 3DMark DirectStorage feature test. This feature test is a free update for the 3DMark Storage Benchmark DLC. The 3DMark DirectStorage feature test helps gamers understand the potential performance benefits that Microsoft's DirectStorage technology could have for their PC's gaming performance.

DirectStorage is a Microsoft technology for Windows PCs with PCIe SSDs that reduces the overhead when loading game data. DirectStorage can be used to reduce game loading times when paired with other technologies such as GDeflate, where the GPU can be used to decompress certain game assets instead of the CPU. On systems running Windows 11, DirectStorage can bring further benefits with BypassIO, lowering a game's CPU overhead by reducing the CPU workload when transferring data.

Arc Raiders, the upcoming third-person PvPvE survival shooter from the developer of The Finals has received a date for its first tech test on Steam. This will apparently be the game's largest external play test to date, and, given the far-away release date, the developer will likely be evaluating things like server performance and game stability first and foremost—although players will likely be asked for feedback regarding game performance and features, as well. The tech test will run for four days, starting on October 24 and ending on October 27.

Players interested in trying out the upcoming extraction shooter can apply via the game's Steam Store page, although they will also need to agree to a non-disclosure agreement, and they will not be allowed to stream any gameplay, share any footage or images from the new game, or even talk about the playtest. In the announcement for the playtest, Embark Studios is clear that this is not meant to be a marketing push for Arc Raiders, despite the press wave that came with the tech test announcement, and the studio hopes to save the excitement for when the game fully releases in 2025.